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In the News: Expressions of Interest in AECL submitted

Two organizations have expressed interest in partnering with AECL's Chalk River Labs.

The Canadian Institute for Neutron Scattering (CINS) and the Chalk River Employees Adhoc TaskforcE for a national laboratory (CREATE), have both responded to Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan) consultation about the future of Chalk River Laboratories. On March 30, each group presented a summary, as well as a detailed proposal, of their visions for the future for the nuclear research and development company.

CREATE, a grass-roots, nonpartisan group of volunteers that includes current and former employees at CRL was formed in 2009 to develop and propose a vision for the future of CRL, seeing it as a national laboratory.

"We believe that CRNL will be a vehicle to mobilize science and technology to Canada's benefit, that is, it will contribute to the vision of Canada's science and technology strategy: to build a sustainable national competitive advantage based on science and technology and the skilled workers whose aspirations, ambitions, and talents bring innovations to life," the CREATE proposal states.

"CRNL will be a productive and sustainable national laboratory that provides both near-term and long-term benefits to the Canadian public, with a good return on the investment of public tax dollars and private investment."

Under this proposal, CREATE sees a need for a new research reactor to replace the current NRU reactor. This would be done as part of a longer term transition process in consultation with potential partners and customers. In parallel, detailed planning for a new multi-purpose reactor for research and other applications in the long-term is needed.

"Such a reactor would assume and expand the functions of the aging NRU reactor," the proposal states.